Viretta Park Repair
Viretta Park Repair (VPR) aims to ecologically restore and repair Seattle's Viretta Park while preserving the park's mix of developed and natural areas through collaborative work parties and community building. Utilizing the principles of permaculture, the effort will create a park that serves both as an urban neighborhood escape as well as a destination to remember and celebrate the life of Kurt Cobain and the music of Nirvana with creative memorial installations that reflect both the character of the park and the creativity of the band and the dedication of fans that visit the park. Join our first work party at Viretta Park! Our very first VPR work party is scheduled for Sunday, February 20, 2011 from 10 AM to 2:00 PM to coincide with what would have been Kurt Cobain's 44th birthday (he was born on February 20, 1967). Viretta Park is located at 151 Lake Washington Blvd. E, Seattle, WA 98122 (Google Map). Meet at the North park bench in the lower developed part of the park just above and to the West of Lake Washington Boulevard. Denny Blaine Park offers some nearby parking a block to the Northeast. You can help! In addition to volunteers, we're looking for food, the ability to play music and your ideas for improving the park! :Update: Yes, our first big party is really happening on the 20th of February! We need you to spread the word and show up with your friends! We’ll help lift the gloom and doom from years of neglect of the park by removing invasive weeds that have gone out of control and spend the second half sheet mulching for future planting in the natural areas. Bring your ideas how you would like to see the park changed, what plants you would like to see (colorful flowers, perennial edibles, groundcovers, medicinal plants, natives, vines, insectiary plants, low canopy plants, plants to glean from, et cetera) and ideas for a proper memorial for Kurt Cobain. Let’s think beyond the benches! This will be the first of many work parties, don’t miss out on the first big event! '''Please contact us to RSVP' so we can have enough gear for all the volunteers who are coming to help. We have people coming all the way from BC, Canada! Wahoo!'' More dates will be coming in March and April 2011, check back soon for information. Lots of fans congregate at Viretta Park in April to mark Kurt's death so it will be nice to have a big work party. Contact Want to collaborate with the project or show up for one of our work parties? Of course you do! Let's get the ball rolling! Please contact Daniel Johnson at (206) 369-2661 (mobile). Or e-mail him at the address below. Outreach We need people who can help with outreach and advertising! Contact us if you are interested! Want to tell others about this site? Send your friend's a link to this website. You can alternatively use the URL http://bit.ly/VirettaParkRepair for something shorter. Post on Facebook or Twitter using the share button at the bottom of this page. Primary areas of concern The challenge: While areas of the park are listed as "developed", a quick tour of the landscape suggests otherwise. Despite the fact that Nirvana fans continue to make the park a major destination, the condition of the park has slipped into a sad state, with the majority of the natural area and even more formal areas infested with invasive plants. The park suffers from an outdated landscape design and a lack of imagination and involvement by the community. There is very little interaction with the park beyond fans visiting the benches and very little interaction with the flora. *Remove all holly trees, considered weeds of concern by King County, in all zones in the park. This includes removal of the large holly tree in the developed zone of the park near the benches in the lower park of the park. The holly trees are shading out the park and wrecking havoc with the native species. They also block several sight lines and block viewpoints that are described in Parks Design documents (see links at bottom of page). :Update: Parks has put up signs indicating hollies are getting removed. We will ask for chips from hollies to stay on site. *The property along Lake WA Blvd needs massive restoration work. With only invasive weeds holding the slope, the area might be at risk for erosion and a serious slide. *Landscape design does not at all acknowledge what people are doing in the park nor where people are spending their time. **Most users come to the park to memorialize Kurt Cobain at the benches in the lower area, which are unfortunately right in the shadow of massive holly trees. ***Consider installing a memorial garden feature near the benches where most people visit. Perhaps a colorful dahlia garden that fans and VPR can help maintain? **Parks puts too much effort maintaining a viewpoint on top as if someone actually uses that part of the park and hardly anybody does. There is hardly any view at the top of the park and seems to serve mainly as an extended yard to the residence on the South, whose driveway cuts through the upper part of the park. Howard Schultz used to live here and left after the controversy became heated about his use of the driveway. **There are paths to nowhere in two areas of the park. *Where are the edibles? Very few juicy edible plants for visitors of neighbors and tourists to glean from. Maybe once the shady invasives are removed we can have a little more sunshine in the park for a small garden for gleaning. *To the North we have an amazing bed of rhododendrons, adjacent to former Cobain/Love house, that has been overtaken with weeds. Let's clean it up and plant some good understory plants that can help compete against the invasive climbing vines (such as himalayan blackberry)! *Challenge ourselves to find showy, multi-function perennials can we have in the park that will offer staggered blooming times when other flowers are out of season. Besides edibles, what about plants that attract pollinators or other beneficial wildlife? *High Maintenance turf areas that are not used. *We need a place to lock up our bikes! Write to the Mayor to get a bike rack, suitable for 10+ bikes. *Make a fan designed rainbow sign with the name of the park to replace the off the shelf Parks Department version on site at the top of the park, a place where few people see or enjoy. About Viretta Park :The following text is taking from the Viretta Park article on Wikipedia: Viretta Park is a 1.8 acre park in the Denny-Blaine neighborhood of Seattle, Washington at the foot of E. John Street at 39th Avenue E., stretching down to Lake Washington Boulevard E. It was named by Charles L. Denny after his wife, Viretta Jackson Denny. It is located north of the former home of Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz and south of the former home of Kurt Cobain, where he died. Nirvana fans gather at the park on the anniversary of Cobain's death (April 5) to pay tribute to the musician. The park's benches are covered with graffiti messages to the rock icon. There has been much speculation over the years on whether the name of the park should be changed to "Kurt's Park", due to the late rock icons large fan base. Bathrooms The Parks Department has neglected to put any restroom facilities in the area for people to use and we may or may not have a portable toilet for our work parties. Some may choose to go in the bushes or behind trees, however, that is not technically legal, and if done improperly, can lead to some hygiene problems. So if you have a need to be legal or you need to go #2, the closest parks with restroom facilities (usually but not always open) include Madrona Park to the South and Madison Park to the North. To get to Madrona Park go South on Lake Washington Blvd. past Madrona Drive and you will see a picnic area and semi-creepy restroom facility. To get to Madison Park go North on Lake Washington Blvd, Turn right/North on McGilvra, turn right/East on Madison and go all the way to the end and you will see the Madison Park Shelterhouse where there are shady restrooms). The real solution is get a composting toilet in the area that can serve all the parks in the area. Viretta Park, which is centrally located in relation to Howell, Denny Blaine, Lake Washington Boulevard and Lakeview is a prime candidate. Getting started *Schedule group permaculture site analysis and identify zones. **First we need to get a good map of the Park. Daniel asked for one from Parks. *Priority starting point. Start with what we agreed to with Jillian and get the invasives out of the lower part of the hill zone which is relatively flat. *Organize work parties with Kurt Cobain/Nirvana fans, other GSP volunteers and neighbors. *Since much of the activity in the park centers around memorializing Nirvana's singe Kurt Cobain we should enlist his fans to come out to clean out the park. *Put up signs in the park advertising a work party? Music? **Parks is being confusing about how much time ahead of event we can have work party sign up in the park. Daniel has submitted a disclosure request to seek clarification on the policy. *Advertise **Daniel is doing a press release. Tara has asked a radio station in BC to put the word out. Bloggers are blogging. Twitter folks are tweeting. *Get Viretta Park to be listed on GSP's parks. History In order to jumpstart the project Daniel Johnson met with representatives from Seattle Parks & Recreation and Green Seattle Partnership in 2010. Jillian Weed (City of Seattle/GSP + no longer with GSP) and Karen Stener (Parks & Rec, Central East Gardener 2 (now working the the WA State Arboretum)) and Jon Martin (Parks and Rec, Central East District Crew Chief) made a short appearance. The group also looked at areas of Lake Washington Blvd and Lakeview Park which are all relatively close to Viretta. Contacts Collaborative effort *The Primary contact at this early stage is Daniel Johnson. See contact info above. *The Cobain Memorial - Cobain.org and The Cobain Memorial Myspace Page. Andre Anderson has offered help with website and outreach. Links are now up for our work party on both sites! Thanks Andre! Outreach Below is a wish list of people and organizations we would love to collaborate with! Some have already been contacted and we are working out how to collaborate and move forward. *The neighbors! Let's see more neighborhood events and volunteer efforts! **"The Neighbors and Friends of Viretta Park, an unincorporated voluntary association" Any of these people interested? http://caselaw.findlaw.com/wa-court-of-appeals/1213819.html *The local and international community of Nirvana fans! **Rasmus Holmen (The Internet Nirvana Fan Club) Offering help *Friends of Denny Blaine Come on Denny Blaine people, you're only a block away! Come help us and have some fun! *Friends of Howell Park *Friends of Lakeview Park *Friends of Lake Washington Boulvevard/Friends of Seattle's Olmstead Parks *Seattle Permaculture Guild A gathering point for folks in Seattle wanting to practice, play with, and learn more about Permaculture. *Seattle City Repair, the local incarnation of City Repair Project *Green Seattle Partnership 2011: Joanna Nelson (Green Seattle Partnership), Rory Denovan (Seattle Parks & Rec/GSP), Aretha Alexander (Seattle Parks and Recreation, Central Seattle Volunteer Coordinator) *Madison Park Community Council Invasives on site English ivy (Hedera helix), English holly (Ilex aquifolium), clematis a.k.a. traveler's joy or old man's beard (Clematis vitalba), himalayan blackberry (Rubus armeniacus) and evergreen blackberry (not to be confused with our local well-behaved [http://green.kingcounty.gov/gonative/Plant.aspx?Act=view&PlantID=77 trailing blackberry, Rubus ursinus]). They're all over Seattle and Green Seattle Partnership has been teaming up with locals to remove and restore infested areas. We also consider turf invasive as it appears to invade natural areas and beds. Check out GSP's page on weed specific removal for best management practices on how to properly remove these invasive plants and more. You can also learn about the "sinister six invasives" from the Forest Park Conservancy External links *Seattle Park & Recreation's Vegetation Management plan for Viretta Park Viewpoint *The benches **Bench (2010) - Graham Dolphin CECI MOSS | Friday Apr 9th, 2010. Dolphin has produced an exact replica of the wooden bench that sits in Viretta Park, Seattle, arbitrarily overlooking the site of Kurt Cobains suicide in 1994. This object has become an inadvertent memorial to the deceased rock star, through the weight of small, heartfelt but ultimately throwaway tributes scratched or drawn onto the wood by hundreds of fans visiting the spot. Dolphin has rebuilt this dense layering of inks, marker pen, tipex, and scratching that repeats Kurt RIP, Kurt Forever and similar abundant, banal phrases. -- FROM THE PRESS RELEASE FOR "BURN AWAY FADE OUT" AT SEVENTEEN GALLERY *expressing Kurt's VISION!! *Smells Like Teen Spirit in front of KURT COBAIN'S HOUSE in Viretta Park *KURT COBAIN-Fans en Viretta Park *Me playing On a Plain By Nirvana in Viretta Park, Lake Washington Seattle Apr 5th 09 *Visiting Kurt Cobain's House *Kurt Cobain memorial *Kurt Cobain: Dead at 27 *Kurt Cobain - Death Report *Kurt Cobain's (Nirvana) Death - MTV News Extended '94 Shows area around bench Coverage Recent tweets: *permagriculture RT @kurtsangelwings http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Viretta_Park_Repair Viretta Park Repair: http://permacult... http://bit.ly/h2MFhB 13 Feb 2011 *kurtsangelwings http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Viretta_Park_Repair Kurt Cobain Park under repair can u help,wish i could.... 13 Feb 2011 *taraden tara #Nirvana fans PLEASE come to this event on Kurt's birthday...... http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Viretta_Park_Repair Viretta Park Repair 11 Feb 2011 *kclvr kclvr http://permaculture.wikia.com/wiki/Viretta_Park_Repair Viretta Park Repair #Nirvana fans... please come to this event on Kurt's birthday! 11 Feb 2011 *TheGrungeScene The Grunge Scene #Nirvana The Kurt Cobain Memorial: Viretta Park Repair. Come help repair Kurts Park on Kurt's Birthday http://bit.ly/g2NTks 10 Feb 2011 *rawexuberance Daniel L Johnson Join me in creating a new effort to restore Viretta Park in Seattle. Introducing Viretta Park Repair! http://bit.ly/VirettaParkRepair 23 Jan 2011